The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-10-12
SHORTHAND WRITING
sTENOcRAPHY CAREFULLY CON-
slDePED AS A CALLING.
IL Has Drawbacks the same as Any
Other Busimess-sone Account OF the
Nature of These DTswbssks-Not All
NAV Become Experts.

il 70 very few more important than 70 lu'
aspirant for stenogrsphic honors Never De
fore have so many undertaken stenograpny
and the number is rapidly increasing. IL
not the purpose Of this article TO discourage
any one who honestly believes himself quail
fed for the pursuit, but 10 show how delusiVe
is the prevailing idea that a few weeks OF
months Of study will open a sure, unob-
structed and delightful highway to fame and
| fortune. and to describe some OF the peculiar
triais and vexations incident to this most
arduous calling. The stenographer has been
compared 10 Bunyan's Pilgrim, standing at
first with book in hand, then encounteIing
manifold troubles and dangers, and only he,
who has experienced the cares and disappoint
ments Of stenographic work, knows how APT
in the comparison.
The use Of stenography in all branches OF
| business has marvelously spread IN the las'
| few years, and it is now, or soon VIII be, the
case that practical knowledge Of the arr
will be a requisite qualification OF the appii-
cant for a clerkship. While this insures EN-
/ piOyment Of stenographers, II will ultimately
reduce the compensation of the specialist IN
/ the work and add 20 his duties. In addition
now required 10 perform other clerical WORK.
/ which is usually odds and ends left over by
/ the other clerks. or insignificant jobs tnht
/ cannot be assigned 20 any particular desk
/ This increases the labor Of preparation, anu
/ as il is done in the few odd moments wheh
/ not taking dictatlons or transcu0ing notes
he cannot acquire by it such detailed knowl'
edge Of the business as will 10 him TO manage
any special department, or 70 develop any
other than his stenographic ability. Inc uh-
| happy result, therefore, Is that the steno5
rapber becomes a sort Of utility man, 10 be
used for anything, when not transcfioihs
notes II being difficult 10 determine MA
exact station. whom he is under or over he
generally Genes to be ordered 70 do this or
that by everybody; very painfully IN Inc
manner Of an Office boy A shert time ago
overheard an employer inquire OF steno-
graphic applicant FOR position: Have you
ever had any experience at wrapping up
peckagesr Surely the scope Of the phonog
rapher's duties is extending with the spread
Of his art
IL has been said that photography Is a
stepping stone 70 something higher True
one may rise from something lower to II, and
il may obtain situations from which the
stenographer through Influence secured
there. can advance But reaching this higher
elevation requires a squire determination 70
abandon stenography Ihi, i. hard to do.
The more skillful he 10 the more reluctant
will the employer be 20 part with MIN or
promote him TO some other work He sees
other clerks advanced for appreciated busi
uess ability. while the appreciation OF bis
skill tends 70 keep him where he Is. Employ
ers come 10 expect nothing from him but
shorthand, except trifing tasks and he thus
works under the shadow Of men who have
moi de>oted Doth 81 the time and labor he
mas 20 preparation. So the shorthand sticks
to him. holding him down 10 one POSITION by
letters he has forged by bis dsTterity
| once read an article in which u was
stated that II the same time, energy and "a
pabilitss, which tho attainment Of steno-
graphic speed requires, were devoted 70 al
most any other promising pursuit. the returns
would be far greater With the resentment
Of an enthusiastic student, ! declared that
the statement was the untimely offspring OF
a mind s0ured by failure and disappointment
| The same may possibly be said Of this article,
| but after several wears Of experience, meeting
such success as the calling affords, am
constrained 20 say that the writer knew
whereof he spoke, aud that the statement was
the legitimate offspring u mind not soured
but saddened by disappointment Who ever
/ heard Of "A stenOgrapher scribbling himself
| into great wealth or distinctions Dickens
was a shorthand writer, but that did not win
hisfame Who knows Of any brown stone
| front grazing fashionable neighborhood
| solely because a man traied pot hooks IN =
note book But there is mansion whose
very shadows are beautiful that rose from the
homely butter, eggs and lard Of yonder
! grocery, and there are scores OF Others whose
| foundations sprang from equally humble pur
suits The stenograpner may build stately
air castles upon possible speculations or some
independent business, but be hasn't time to
perfectly plan bis projects or 10 work up his
determination. so he keeps on plying his pen,
the opporunities pass, his courage 70 branch
out for himself wenes, aud the castles, dema
telialized. stand before him IN tsntalizing
| grandeur.
The general belief seems 10 be that short
hand writer is equal 70 any amount Of labor.
Because he can record language at a high
speed. it is supposed this rapidity extends 70
everything he does, whereas It takes him as
long as any one else to write IN longhand- IL
seems sometimes as II employers believe that
stenography is "A sort OF elixir that renews
| the strength and charms away fatigue,
| or that, as reward for the pro
digious labor Of its requirement, some
benefcent spirit had revealed the location
of the fountain Of perpetual youth. The
truth is. however. that few pursuits are more
wearing and enervating In taking down
a rapid speech FROM dictstion-and here the
stenographer gets 10 mercy-there is a weak
ening tension upon the mind, eyes, ears and
hands; indeed every faculty must be keenly
alive to hear and remember, while writing
the words already spoken, what the speaker
is saving in advance OF him; and If It Is an
important matter, IN which mistake might
be disastrous, the reporter feels as il, like At
las. he were bowed under the burden of the
world No one but stenOgrapher knows
what IL is 20 be overwhelmed by an avalanche
of words.
Few employers are Intentionally bard upon
Shorthand clerks but they do not think what
weary irudgery transcribing notes is. To no
| clerk will within or basty judgment entail
as much work AS 10 the stenographer ] bsye